CurrenlyzerATR Is Lagging: What the Hourly Range Shows Instead
ATR is an average of the last 14 days, so a sudden change shows up in it slowly. The table compares the 14-day average with the latest day for each major pair; the hourly range in the scanner reacts within the hour.
Average True Range is the most used volatility tool. It is also slow by design: a calm 14-day average will hardly change after one wild day. When you want to know whether this hour is unusual, you need a faster number.
14-day average against the latest days
| Pair | 14-day average (pips) | Last 3 days | Last day | Last day against the average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 59.0 | 57.6 | 65.2 | 1.11 times |
| GBP/USD | 61.7 | 58.0 | 59.1 | 0.96 times |
| USD/JPY | 91.8 | 118 | 124 | 1.36 times |
| USD/CHF | 53.3 | 65.2 | 52.9 | 0.99 times |
| AUD/USD | 44.3 | 71.1 | 102 | 2.29 times |
| USD/CAD | 58.6 | 73.7 | 81.2 | 1.39 times |
| NZD/USD | 43.7 | 60.6 | 67.3 | 1.54 times |
When the last day is far from the 14-day average, the average has not caught up yet. A single day changes it by about one fourteenth, so the average needs several days to show a change. The current hour’s range against its usual range, which the scanner shows, reacts at once.
What ATR does well
ATR is a good measure of the background level of volatility. It is stable, it includes gaps and it is built into every platform. If you need a number to size a stop for a swing trade, it is a reasonable choice.
Where it falls short
Because it averages 14 days, it is slow to show that today is different. For a day trader the question is whether the current hour is unusual, and a 14-day average cannot answer it. The hourly range compared with the usual range for the same hour can.
How to check this in Currenlyzer
- Open the scanner. It lists every symbol with its reading for the current hour: Busy, Normal or Quiet.
- Sort by the busiest now or by the usual range, and filter by currency.
- Click a symbol to open its analyzer, where the hours of every weekday and the number of days counted are shown.
How we count
The numbers come from the live price feed of Currenlyzer: one-minute prices are built into hourly and daily candles, all in UTC. The range of a candle is its high minus its low. We use finished candles only, and we leave out hours when the market is closed and days that are too thin to count (the first hours of the Sunday open, short holiday days), so a closed hour is never averaged in as zero. Averages cover the last 30 days for the daily range and the last 60 days for hours, unless the text says otherwise. Pips follow the dashboard: one pip is 0.0001 on most pairs, 0.01 on yen pairs and 0.10 on gold. The same method is used in the dashboard.
Frequently asked questions
Why is ATR lagging?
Because it averages many days. One new day changes a 14-day average by about one fourteenth.
What is faster than ATR?
The range of the current hour against the usual range of the same hour, which is what the scanner shows.
Is this table ATR?
It is the 14-day average of the daily high-minus-low, which is close to ATR without the overnight gap.
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Historical statistics for information only. This is not investment advice and not a recommendation to buy or sell. Past patterns do not predict future moves. Trading leveraged products carries a high risk of loss. Read the full disclaimer.